false alarm

false alarm

A benign situation initially mistaken for an emergency. Mary thought she was going into labor, but it turned out to be a false alarm.When the smoke detectors started beeping, we thought the building was on fire, but it was just a false alarm caused by faulty wiring.

false alarm

A warning signal that is groundless, made either by mistake or as a deliberate deception. For example, The rumor that we were all going to get fired was just a false alarm, or Setting off a false alarm is a criminal offense. This expression, first recorded in 1579, today is often used for a report of a nonexistent fire.

Despite the huge number of fire detection options currently available, devising a system for the pharmaceutical sector that will give the necessary speed of response without creating maintenance problems or generating an unacceptable level of false alarms is far from easy.

They now have just over two months to install the expensive new audio verification technology police believe is needed to reduce the number of false alarms caused by staff pushing panic buttons for the 'wrong' reason such as antisocial behaviour outside stores.

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